Arekhel shivers again as the company clambers over the rubble into the ruined building. She eventually summons her resolve, goes to Valdo and puts her hand on his arm. She looks earnestly into his eyes and asks:
"Valdo, please, before we do anything foolish, tell me if we are near the south road which leads to Dionadail?

"Yes my Lady," answers the Guard Captain, looking down slightly at her.

"Is it the place where the young Scout...Sgilti...was found some weeks ago?"

"I believe so, why?" answers the other.

"Then, please, I implore you, this place is really dangerous...if, while going inside this tower, you see a closed door at the top of the stairs, please, don't try to touch it. I cannot tell you why, but I am just telling you that this place doesn't 'feel' normal!" She tries very hard to convince the Guard Captain who takes her arm gently. "Look, my dear Lady. I know you are clearly agitated and I understand your worry. I fully expect to come across some semblance of evil here and we will take every precaution. Now, do not worry. We must find out why these Goblin's are here." With that, he smiles gently to her and moves past to speak quickly with his men.

Lochan and Meraina inspect the broken coffin as the group spreads to search throughout the ground floor of the ruin.

Relg speaks to Coru and Valdo:
"We must not simply put aside what the High Lady said, just because we find nothing here. This place does not smell good, and if there will be a battle waiting for us here, then it won't be an open one." He seems to search for a solution to some private question then continues after a few seconds:
"However, I would like to have Arekhel's opinion on this room."
Relg points to the room with the barrel and the poles. Arekhel pushes away from the wall and wearily wanders over and through the door, rubbing her forehead tiredly. "Well, at last someone seems to listen to me!" She says to the Gargath warleader. "My dear warrior, the whole place stinks of evil magic. I cannot pinpoint the exact source of it, it is just a global feeling. I don't know either if it is some magic left by someone or if it is someone who is still around!"

.....

Valdo's men are now stationed around the room - effectively securing the level from outside and in. They keep their keen eyes scanned for signs of movement or noise.

Relg nods, watching the Elven woman pace around then suddenly asks the group:
"Is any man here good at finding traps? For I will accompany them, when they try to get up to the next level."

"Traps...?" Froin seems to be lost in studying the stonework of the watchtower. Coming to, he adds:
"I will go with you."

Arekhel butts in and puts her hand on Relg's arm. She says very quickly:
"I would be careful going upstairs, if I were you! I have every reason to think that you might find a door upstairs... and I would not try to open it without the utmost caution if I were you."

Relg nods signalling okay to the woman's words but he seems set on exploring further. Relg then speaks to Coru and Lochan where they check for signs of recent use in the rooms:
"I don't have much experience with these Greenskins, but I have the feeling, there is more behind this. Maybe we can find something, which indicates a third party, even if it is only a footprint or anything similar small."

Lochan looks up. "Coru and I have been over nearly every inch of this ground and there are no real tracks to speak of. A few marks here and there but apart from the dragged body over by the coffin, there are no signs that anyone has been here."

"That is not to say that they haven't covered their tracks well," adds Coru.

After looking around, Heladil approaches the center of the room and peers closely at the packed dirt that covers the entire floor of the tower. With a thoughtful look he mumbles, "I wonder what they dug up here? ...Or more likely what they buried! Someone must have gone to a lot of trouble here?"

Arekhel returns to the main room and hears the last words of Heladil. She answers him in an unsteady voice:
"They might have buried our friend Urmadh! But don't count on me to help you to dig up this floor... it would take too long!" She then leans against a nearby wall by the broken entrance, palms open against the crumbling stone at her back. She breathes strongly and closes her eyes...

In a louder voice Heladil addresses the others, "Shall we see what's in the rest of this tower?" With that he heads towards the stairs and peers upwards with bow drawn. There is no sound but for the cawing of the crows.

Gwalchmai appears and says:
"Maybe we should keep one or two watchmen outside the tower, to avoid being trapped inside if the Goblins or others decided to hide in the forest instead of the tower. To be honest, I am not used to caves and Dwarven constructions. I feel more comfortable fighting in the open. While not really as open as the Northern plains, the forest will make do anyway. If it is okay for you, I will stay outside the tower to watch the surrounding area. Just call me in case of trouble. I won't be far. If somebody else wants to join me...?"

Boldor answers him first. "If there is fighting to be done, I'm the one to do it. But I want to see what this old place is like so I'm going upstairs."

"I've done my bit to help," says Billy. "I think we should stay right out of the way."

"Yes, a quicker exit seems to me the best decision we could possibly make," adds Raddish, looking towards the crumbled opening in the wall and the misty forest outside.

Arekhel leaves her position by the wall and walks cautiously towards the stairs. Again, she stops and peers upwards, listening perhaps. She then turns round and says:
"I would not stay too long inside, if I were you...I can feel some... 'thing' around us, it means evil, I'm sure of it..." Turning to Heladil and Saelvach she adds:
"Can't you feel anything?"

The others both shrug. They cannot feel what she apparently can.

As Froin and Relg move forward to join Heladil by the stairs, Sealvach enters the room casually, sniffs, looks around then wanders over to peer in the other rooms. "Not much to sit on 'round here," he mutters to himself.

With Relg covering him, the Dwarven engineer begins to ascend the stone stairs, step by step, taking great care to scrutinize the walls around before he places his weight on the next stone. The stairwell is narrow and twists sharply so only Relg is afforded even a glimpse of what awaits round the curving wall. In this way, the two frontmen move slowly upwards and out of site. Valdo, after detailing three of the militia men to stay below with Gwalchmai, joins Heladil just behind and slowly ascends the stairs with weapons drawn. Next go the rest of the militia men, waiting expectantly for a shout or some other sign to tell them that their swords are needed.

.....
 

Creeping slowly forward, Froin runs his stubby fingers over the worn stone, feeling how each narrow slab has been worn into a lip over the countless years by the passing of booted feet and the trickle of unchecked water. Some stones are deeply grooved and these he pays particular attention to, knowing that the Dwarves are very subtle in their skills at laying traps for the unwary. In the end, Froin is satisfied that there appear to be no traps on the stairs and finally reaches the next floor. There is a large oaken door facing onto the stairwell. It appears not to be locked so with Relg at the ready, Froin slowly opens it and gives the warleader a chance to survey the surroundings.

Immediately across from where he stands on a wide landing are three wooden doors, each in a slightly angular wall. All appear closed and there is no sign of habitation so Relg steps forwards onto the landing and looks around. To his left, the Gargath can see a further mouldy-looking door apparently set in the outer wall of the tower. He remembers something Arekhel has recently said and nods to himself as the Dwarf joins him. They leave it well alone.

Within a short while, most of the company have got to the floor above and spread out to search the rooms. Four militia men stay behind on the ground floor. As soon as Arekhel reaches this floor she turns to regard the mouldy door, gasping in shock as she sees it. Nevertheless, with hand over her mouth she moves towards it fearfully but doesn't touch it. Then quickly she backs away, clearly fearful of it. She speaks loudly enough for even Relg and Valdo to hear:
"It is very evil here, we'd better go back!!" and she pushes back past those at the top of the stairs and quickly descends to the ground floor.

There is little in these rooms apart from small pieces of crumbling masonry fallen from the walls although one room has a hole in the floor where the timbers have given way into the room below. This would account for the hole in the ceiling downstairs. No one risks walking for too long across these floors and Froin soon turns towards the next set of steps in the stairwell...

Again the Dwarf finds no traps and shortly the stairs pause in their ascent and open out onto another landing, this one having no intermediate door. Before they can investigate, a sudden noise behind startles them both into turning round towards the stairwell...

As Valdo moves to join them on the next level, a stone slap shifts under his feet, dropping suddenly to slope at a sharp angle as an ominous rumbling sound immediately starts above his head. Both himself and Heladil back off hurriedly but not before a shower of earth and rock suddenly begins to rains down upon their heads. Valdo hauls his shield up to protect them both but staggers backwards as a number of large stones break through his guard. He is knocked backwards to fall against Heladil who is hit sharply in the arm, momentarily stunning him. Valdo loses his footing and tumbles down the stairs surrounded by rolling bits of masonry.

"Shit!" mutters Froin quietly as he realises that he missed a classic subterfuge. Relg immediately backs against the wall ready in case the sound has awoken anything in the ruin. All goes silent once more as he looks around.

Valdo is not hurt badly but his ego has certainly been punished. He gets painfully to his feet, covered in scratches and nasty bruises, and rubs his shin where a stone had glanced off. It is lucky he is wearing greaves. Heladil remains above on the stairs, nursing his bruised arm and looking up towards where the other two crouch in the stairwell.

Valdo swears to his militia men to get a move on, to hide his embarrassment and orders them swiftly up the stairs to aid Heladil and the two at the top.

Relg meanwhile, scans the area revealed by the opening. The tower on this level is apparently divided into two concentric circles. From where he stands, Relg can make out a curving passageway that runs in both directions around a similarly curving inner wall. In that wall and nearly opposite himself, is a further closed door which is also of iron-banded oak planking. The inner wall also seems to have arrowslits spaced along it but whether they are to fire in or out from is too hard to judge from here.

.....

As the Gargath pauses to listen for sounds of any enemy aroused by the disaster of earlier, the militia men come quickly up the stairs and fan out either side of him in a defensive line. Next comes Heladil and Boldor with him followed by the scouts, Coru and Lochan, both with their missile weapons drawn. With no signs of combat in evidence yet, the rest of the group on the ground floor except for Gwalchmai, Arekhel and the militia men decide to follow the others up to have a look around. They carefully avoid the trapped step and test each slab of stone carefully.

Arekhel pushes past the militia men on the stairs and crouches on the mudded floor, leaning against the wall for support. She puts her hands on her ears and closes her eyes as little shudders go through her frame. She opens her eyes and with an anguished look upon her Elven face stares out through the gap in the wall to the trees outside...

Meanwhile, Relg steps swiftly across to the door in the inner wall, noticing as he does so that part of the eastern wall has fallen out and black crows are flapping amongst the broken stonework. Coru and Lochan both move forwards and outwards as does Heladil, his keen eyesight penetrating the shadowy interior with ease. Stepping up close to the inner wall, Heladil catches movement suddenly from within the inner room through an arrowslit and hisses to the others. Before he can indicate anything further, a woman's shout is heard clearly from downstairs. It is Arekhel. As the group upstairs turn towards the sound, a manly shout of defiance is also heard and the ringing clang of metal on metal. There is fighting downstairs!

As Arekhel tries to focus on her surroundings again she sees a hole forming in the centre of the floor behind the three remaining soldiers and Gwalchmai who are all looking at her strangely and worriedly. She pulls herself to her feet and staggers outside, shouting:
"There inside, some Goblins! In the centre of the room!!!"

Heladil stops in his tracks and peers diagonally through the arrowslit for an instant. His Elven sight picks out maybe five small, armed shapes creeping across the inner room towards the nearby door. There may have been more. Heladil raises his hand with finger splayed to indicate the number, then points with his hand towards the rough position of them. The group prepares for the attack.

[As Arekhel shouts a warning and points to the center of the room, Gwalchmai swivels around and immediately sees a mud-covered trapdoor being thrown back. Coming swiftly from it is a Goblin that jumps up onto the floor with a spear in its filthy claws. It grins a toothy grin as it thrusts straight at one of the militia men who is only just turning round at Arekhel's shout. The three militia men shout their challenge and leap to attack as more pour from the hole into the room. There will be clearly enough for everyone. Arekhel backs out onto the grassy slope looking wildly towards the conflict as the air around her begins to darken and swirl before her eyes.]